Vienna was an exception among the metropolises of Europe by tenaries and for less wealthy citizens.
But and there, as in Croatia, an increasing problem is increasing the number of apartments for tourists. That is why strict rules were introduced in Vienna.
It is hardly anyone to mention that all sights offer the capital of Austria – and the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy, so that tourists have more and more. Last year, a record was reached with just less than 19 million nights, 9% more than in the year before. And that is also for the city with about 2 million inhabitants but on the border of the durable.
Vienna is voting and because for more than one century, the systems build communal apartments and entire settlements for less wealthy citizens, but that flood of tourists and more and more apartments that turn into tourist accommodation are becoming a growing problem. Because outside the tourist season Apartments Zjapa empties, while Vienna is marked in vain.
Even in the summer of 2024. He went to fight Vienna against such scattering the city’s housing stock. Not only all the owners of the apartment must apply for such accommodation, but due to the payment of real income taxes, it may be rented for the longest space in that city a year. Whoever wants to rent and longer, needs a special permission that is very difficult to obtain, seebiz. Who violates that regulation and rent a “black” apartment, waiting for draconian penalties and a fine can be up to 50,000 euros per apartment and year.
But the most strictest law will not have an effect if it is not clear who will monitor the regulations. That is why in Vienna, the special department was established in Vienna and one of the currently nine officers is Nicole Nestle. For German public service Ard, she explains how each day accompany the usual rental portals – airbnb or booking.com, but also other places where it is advertised for renting accommodation. On top of that, they arrived at their hundreds of reports from Vienna about neighbors who obviously do not live in that apartment, but rented by Fureštima.
Jobs overhead, says Nestler, especially if a new location is detected, but also if it is determined that some owner has again violated the regulations. The investigation is usually carried out early in the morning, and almost at each then determine the different offenses.
The service also boasts the spectacular successes: as many as two rights of hotels are discovered that are illegally opened in residential buildings and in which they did not find any single residents of Vienna. In search of violators are journalists so the portal of meinbezirk.at revealed the owner of about twenty apartments in one neighborhood that rented them to tourists illegally.
The least grace has the tenants in favorable, city apartments that then rent tourists. Of course they must not even laugh at all, but one hundred such violations have been identified. Not only did they immediately lose the right to use that apartment, but they have lifeless overdue to the “black list” of people who will never receive some accommodation from the city. Such a rigorous decision confirmed even the Supreme Court of Austria a few years ago.
In Vienna, the utility elections last weekends and apartments for tourists were a hot topic. The Social Democratic City Administration and Commissioner for Urbanism Kathrin Gaal are convinced that the current strict rules bring results and reduce the number of apartments that are mostly empty over the year. Tapping on the other hand is looking for more stricter rules. He wants a complete ban on issuing apartments for tourists in the settlements predicted primarily for housing, and around tourist sights should only remain a limited number of apartments.
After the election of the Social Democrats are again the strongest political force in Vienna, even if the populist poles tripled support and became the other party. The regulations may indeed become even sharper, but they will probably not exaggerate: Tourists are the city and an important source of income, not only when they pay for accommodation than there is definitely available. But in any case, the inspector Nestler and her colleagues will remain a lot of work.
